Nurses Offer To Provide Care To Rape Victims

KISSIMMEE — Osceola nurses who said they no longer can stand to see other women suffer have come to the aid of county rape victims.

The nurses have volunteered to conduct post-rape medical exams, easing county officials' fears that victims might have to wait hours for the exams.

''This is not an experiment. This is a tried and true resolution,'' said Sue Manning, who heads Osceola's victim advocate program. Manning, whose program helps victims of crime, has taken on the task of finding people willing to conduct the exams.

There are about 80 reported rapes a year in Osceola.

Rape exams are vital, officials said, because they are used to gather evidence and protect victims against infection and pregnancy. The sooner a victim can be examined, the better the chances of doing both, they said.

In the past, some rape victims in Osceola have spent hours in emergency rooms or police cars as law officials looked for doctors to examine them. The problem was solved temporarily a couple years ago when county officials contracted with a group of doctors to do the exams.

But the doctors gave notice several months ago that they would no longer conduct the exams. Their contract with the county ended March 31. Within a few days, a rape victim had to wait seven hours before a doctor could be found for an exam.

Darleen Williams doesn't want that to happen again.

She is an emergency room nurse at Kissimmee Memorial Hospital. She heard about the problem and remembered the way post-rape exams were conducted in a hospital she worked at in Texas: highly trained nurses did the exams.

Williams suggested what is called a nurse examiner program to Kissimmee hospital officials and they gave the okay. If things go according to schedule, nurses will start giving post-rape exams May 1. A local doctor has agreed to fill in until then.

''If I had been raped in this county, I certainly would want someone who cared to be there,'' Williams said Wednesday. ''It's not a glamorous thing, but we can't sweep it under the rug. It happens.''

Williams circulated sign-up sheets among the county's three hospitals looking for volunteers. About 18 nurses signed up, but only seven have stayed in the program.

The nurses will begin a 10-hour training and certification course soon, Williams said. They will learn how to conduct the exams and specific procedures required by police and courts.

After their training, the nurses will carry beepers and do the exams on an on-call basis. They are negotiating a contract with Osceola County, calling for a yearly fee of $21,350, amounting to $40 per exam.

''It's unrealistic to expect anyone to give completely of their time,'' Williams said about the fee. ''The fees are low.''

Williams and other nurses said they are not doing the exams for the money. ''More than anything, it's for the patient,'' said Laura, a St. Cloud nurse who asked that her last name not be used for fear those charged with rape might learn her name.

''Being a female, I can sympathize, empathize with how bad it would be to be assaulted and be sitting somewhere for hours waiting for an exam . . . I just really see this as a worthwhile cause and I wanted to give some of my time.''

The nurses said they know rapes occur at unusual hours and that victims can suffer from fragile emotions. But they said the nature of their work has prepared them for that.

''We're all nurses,'' Williams said. ''We're used to dealing with injured and ill people. We didn't do this for the money. We care about people.''

Williams also said rape victims may feel more at ease being examined by women rather than by men.

Court officials were initially concerned about whether the results of exams conducted by nurses would be as credible in court as those conducted by doctors. But Manning said the nurse-examiner program has been used in other Florida cities and in other states.

''It's a tried and true approach that has been used in many, many places,'' she said. ''That issue has probably been researched and re-researched.''